Tea Party

As soon as Brad walks in the door from work Claire wants him to go play with her in her big girl bed. It's so cute...they are best buds. He always goes with her, even if he's hungry or just wants to sit down for a second. I found them playing tea party in her bed...although Brad insists they were not having a tea party, but rather, they were "making toast". Poor Brad...he's really in for it when Aubrey comes. Next thing I know I will find him in a dress and heels putting on make-up with the girls! Thanks for being such a great Daddy Brad!

Alamo Bowl

On Sat. morning we left for San Antonio for the Tech/Michigan State bowl game! We met my parents at the hotel which was right on the Riverwalk and immediately headed to lunch. My Dad wanted to take Claire to The Rainforest Cafe which is right on the river. She loved it...the elephants made her a little nervous, but we enjoyed a great lunch. Then we walked the Riverwalk for a few hours. At that point I needed to go back to the room and rest since I had a long night ahead of me. The game didn't start until 8:00 and it was quite a walk from our hotel, but I made it! Did I mention our seats were on the second to last row...as in the rafters?! I think I walked up 6,000 stairs. The game was awesome...we won!!! Then the long journey back. We got to the room around 1:00am and I was exhausted. My Mom stayed at the hotel and watched Claire for us so that was awesome. I think I was having some pretty strong contractions for awhile, but this morning I feel better. We are home now and I think I'm going to take it easy. it was a fun weekend, the last time I travel anywhere until after the baby is born!

Christmas 2009

What a wonderful Christmas!!!! We drove to Houston on Wed. to spend the holidays with my family. Claire was so excited to be with her Grandmom and Pop-Pop and Aunt Alli and Uncle Joe...and the cat! Apparently it snowed here in Dallas while we were gone, which is awesome, but I wouldn't have missed this Christmas with my family for anything! We went to church on Christmas Eve, then the elves got busy putting together toys for Claire. I was so excited to see her reaction in the morning. I get the Mom of the Year award for forgetting the battery for the video camera so we have nothing on video! It's ok because she came down the stairs a little grumpy on Christmas morning! She quickly warmed up and spent the day playing with all of her new things. Her favorites included chap stick, tearing the paper off of the crayons and her art table. We got my parents a Wii and Wii Fit so we all played that a lot for the rest of the weekend. It was a great day...Santa was very good to all of us. Brad and I decided not to exchange gifts this year and instead we bought 4 wheelchairs for children in Iraq who need them. On the way home we drove through College station to visit Brad's grandmother. We are so blessed with a healthy, loving, happy family. Merry Christmas everyone!!

Party!

It's the week before Christmas so we had some parties to go to! On Friday morning Claire and I went to the Stroller Strides Christmas party. It was so much fun that I didn't get any pictures, but we exchanged gifts (I ended up with a really cool ring!) and the kids had a blast playing. Of course there was a ton of food...I can't wait to see how much weight I've gained since my last Dr. appointment! That night I went to an ornament exchange party with my college friends in Dallas. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time and Brad was nice enough to babysit Claire so I could stay out late! So much fun! They went to Home Depot while I was gone and Claire got some balloons...which made her hair stand straight up the next morning! Now we are getting ready to go to Houston for Christmas on Wed. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

White Rock Marathon

Today Brad ran in his second marathon! The weather was perfect for the runners...nice and cool and much better than last year. Mom and Dad are here to cheer Brad on so we all piled into the car early this morning, dropped Brad off at the start line and then went to get coffee and bagels before going to our first spot to cheer Brad on. I made a sign again for Brad to motivate him and so he could see where we were from far away. We saw him at the 3 mile mark, then ran to the car to go to the next spot. We ended up cheering him on at 7 different locations and were there at the finish! He completed the race in 4:12:14 and ran the entire 26.2 miles! Claire was amazing and thanks to my parents and brother for being there to support him. Congrats to my friends who ran the relay too!

Museum, Tree and Sign for Brad

On Sat. we went to check out the new Ft. Worth Children's Museum. We had so much fun that we bought a membership! So if anyone ever wants to meet us there I can get a guest in for free!!! I think we will go back next week...Claire loved to run around and explore...Brad might have had fun playing with some of the exhibits too ;) That afternoon we went to get our Christmas tree. Claire had zero interest in helping decorate. Oh well, it looks nice and she doesn't bother it. Next week brad runs the White Rock marathon. I made a big sign for him last year with Claire's picture on it to cheer him on and motivate him. I'm doing the same this year...to all of my friends running in the race, look for this picture at various points along the route and Claire and I will be there cheering you on!!!

Snow!

It's Dec. 2nd today and when we woke up it was snowing outside! I let Claire go outside and play in it until her hands froze. I tried to get some good pictures...maybe even one for a Christmas card but she wouldn't stand still or look at me. I can't blame her, snow is so much fun! BTW, Claire is 22 months old today!